MEMPHIS, TN – Shelby County District Attorney Bill Gibbons announced that the D.A.’s office has started using a “vertical prosecution” method to handle all felony methamphetamine drug cases. The decision to handle cases in this manner is due to a growing number of cases involving felony meth possession, initiation of meth manufacturing cases (when a suspect is in the process of making meth), and promoting meth manufacturing (when a suspect is purchasing the materials to make meth for other individuals).
In 2009, the grand jury returned 79 indictments that included at least one felony meth charge. Through April 30, 2010, the grand jury had returned 43 indictments since the first of the year that included at least one felony meth charge – nearly half the number of indictments for all of 2009. In 2009, the grand jury returned 20 indictments for initiation of meth manufacturing cases; through April 30, 2010, the grand jury had already returned 10 since the start of the year indictments for initiation of meth manufacturing. Based on the number of felony meth cases currently pending in General Sessions Criminal Court and awaiting presentation to the grand jury, prosecutors expect the number of meth-related indictments to surpass 200 for 2010.
The felony meth cases are being vertically prosecuted by assistant D.A.s in the Gang and Narcotics Prosecution Unit and the Organized Crime Operations Prosecution Unit.
Vertical prosecution is the method of assigning one prosecutor to a case to handle all aspects of that case from the time the defendant is arrested until the case is disposed. Due to the number of criminal cases, most district attorney’s offices across the country prosecute the majority of cases “horizontally,” with a different prosecutor assigned to handle different aspects during the various stages of the criminal court process.
“We are very concerned about the increase in criminal meth cases in Shelby County. It is a very addicting drug, and we want to get out in front of it by assigning the same prosecutors to handle these cases from beginning to end,” said District Attorney Gibbons. “Vertical prosecution produces a better end result. The prosecutor is able to have thorough knowledge of the case and is better equipped to make decisions regarding the prosecution of the case,” added Gibbons, who is a strong proponent of the process.
As part of the Operation: Safe Community plan to make Memphis and Shelby County safer, Gibbons has committed to assigning all new prosecutor positions to units which handle cases vertically.
The D.A.’s office vertically handles all first degree murder cases, most gang cases, cases involving serious repeat offenders handled in designated Special Prosecution Unit divisions of Criminal Court, severe child abuse cases, white collar crime cases, domestic violence cases, and many cases investigated by the Memphis Police Department’s Organized Crime Unit.
For more information on methamphetamine addiction and what is being done to educate the public about the dangers of meth use and production, go to www.MethFreeTN.org. To request informational materials on the dangers of meth, please contact Jennifer Donnals at 545-5988 or jennifer.donnals@scdag.com. The Meth Destroys educational campaign was created by the Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference.